Michal Materla (red glove tape) and Jay Silva tangled for a
third time at KSW 26. | Piotr Pedziszewski/Sherdog.com

They say familiarity breeds contempt, but when it comes to MMA
trilogies, it can also make for compelling theater.

The third meeting between Michal
Materla and Jay Silva in
the main event of KSW
26 featured its share of drama, momentum swings and
near-finishes. When the dust settled, Materla retained his
middleweight crown with a hard-fought, three-round verdict over
Silva at Torwar Hall in Warsaw Poland on Saturday. Judges’
scorecards were not revealed for any of the event’s bouts that went
the distance.

Silva had won the previous matchup via second-round knockout last
September, while Materla was victorious in their initial clash at
KSW 19 in May 2012.

The American was on the verge of another knockout triumph when he
floored Materla with a pair of uppercuts early in the first round.
“Da Spyda Killer” would again have the champion reeling with a
series of big right hands later in the frame before Materla turned
the tables with a late takedown. Materla then attempted to secure
an arm-triangle choke but was unable to pass to side control before
the round ended.

Materla was able to swing the fight in his favor by mostly avoiding
the dangerous standup exchanges over the final 10 minutes. He
mounted Silva repeatedly, hunted for submissions and stayed active
with strikes on the ground. After nearly finishing the fight with a
tight triangle choke in round two, the man known as “Magic”
overwhelmed his opponent in the final frame, mounting Silva near
the ropes and maintaining a dominant position for the duration of
the round.

Photo: P.
Pedziszewski/Sherdog.com

Rozalski (right) staged a second-round comeback.

Resilience was the order of the day for Marcin
Rozalski in the heavyweight co-headliner. Dropped by a left
hook and battered from ground-and-pound in the opening period by
Nick
Rossborough, the kickboxing specialist weathered the storm and
rallied to earn a technical knockout triumph over the former King
of the Cage champ in the second frame.

Things changed drastically for Rozalski following the harrowing
initial stanza. “Rozal” attacked his man in the clinch before
fending off a standing arm-triangle attempt. After escaping the
submission attempt, Rozalski continued to tee off with flurries of
punches to the head and body before moving into tie-up range once
again. From there, the 35-year-old Pole floored his foe with a
short punch and turned away to celebrate what he believed to be a
knockout victory. The referee let the bout continue, however, so
Rozalski pounced on the prone Rossborough, trapping his foe’s head
with his leg and ending the clash with a series of unanswered
punches to the body.

Photo: P.
Pedziszewski/Sherdog.com

Azhiev (blue tape) dropped an illegal
knee on Sowinski.

Earlier, the rematch between featherweights Anzor
Azhiev and Artur
Sowinski offered little in the way of resolution, as Azhiev was
disqualified for landing an illegal knee in the opening frame. The
action was frantic while it lasted. Both fighters exchanged
recklessly, but it was Azhiev who gained the upper hand by flooring
his adversary with a counter right hand.

The Poland-based Chechen then swarmed for the finish and in his
haste, landed a knee to Sowinski’s chin before the Polish fighter
was able to return to his feet. Sowinski immediately collapsed from
the blow and was deemed unable to continue after a brief delay.
Azhiev and Sowinski previously squared off at KSW 24 last
September, with an accidental clash of heads resulting in a no
contest.

Four-time UFC veteran Goran
Reljic captured a questionable unanimous decision over Karol
Celinski in a light heavyweight scrap. Celinski was the
superior boxer in a bout that was contested primarily on the feet,
but while the Pole’s takedown defense was solid, late takedowns by
Reljic in rounds one and three could have made the difference in a
fight that lacked a signature moment.

Photo: P.
Pedziszewski/Sherdog.com

Reljic (right) edged Celinski on the scorecards.

For the most part, Reljic’s attempts to grind down his foe failed,
as Celinski was able to land a decent amount of offense in clinches
and from his back. It wasn’t enough to sway the judges, however, as
Reljic won for the fifth time in his last six outings.

Fitness model Kamila
Porczyk cruised to a unanimous verdict over 18-year-old
Iryna
Shaparenko in a sloppy women’s flyweight clash. Very little
striking technique was on display as the two women alternated wild,
brawling sequences with patches of passivity, twice drawing
warnings from the referee for reluctance to engage. Through it all,
Porczyk was able to batter her opponent in numerous close quarters
exchanges.

The 36-year-old Pole had an opportunity to finish in round two, as
she mounted Shaparenko and spent the frame unloading spurts of
ground-and-pound and hunting for rear-naked chokes. Somehow,
Shaparenko was able to make it to the final bell.

Michal
Andryszak needed to knock out Paul
Slowinski twice to achieve victory in a bizarre heavyweight
clash. Andryszak dropped Slowinski with a right hand inside of the
bout’s first minute, which appeared to be enough for the win as the
referee quickly intervened to halt the bout. Slowinski vehemently
protested the stoppage, and after a brief delay, the action was
restarted in the ring. Andryszak wasted little time in putting his
foe down with yet another right hand -- this time ending the
contest for good.

Sergej
Grecicho entered his bout against Jakub
Kowalewicz with 15 submissions among his 19 career victories,
but it was his hands that would carry him past his Polish opponent.
Unable to get the larger Kowalewicz to the canvas consistently,
Grecicho outpaced his foe on the feet down the stretch en route to
winning a three-round verdict at lightweight.

In the evening’s opening bout Arbi
Shamaev relied on takedowns, top control and superior grappling
to capture a unanimous decision over Helson
Henriques at featherweight.